Daniel Howell trip report

Kim Grinolds

01/18/2004

Not that there were any expectations he would change his mind, but Newhall (Calif.) Hart LB Daniel Howell needed to visit Seattle anyway. After all, he did verbally commit to Washington before even taking a visit. Did his visit raise the level of Howell's expectations?

"It was cool," the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Howell told Dawgman.com Sunday. "The weather is going to be something I need to get used to. Other than that, I liked the campus, the people, everything is laid back and chill. I liked everything I saw.

"I'm not much of a city boy, but I thought it (Seattle) would be a little bit like LA. Not as populated or polluted. The weather, I knew it would be cool. I can get used to it, but it was getting pretty cool at times. It was pretty much what I expected it to be."

Sonny Shackelford was Daniel's host. "He was tight," Howell said of the receiver from Beverly Hills. "He's all goofy. He's like the abrasive, goofy version of me. I like him, he's a good guy.

"And all the players I met, they were down to earth, cool. They seemed to be a tight-knit
group. I met one dude they call 'ET' and I met (Chris) Singleton, a couple of other guys."

Daniel was the Huskies' only recruit visiting this week. "I'm the last one," he said.

Howell had very nice things to say about the Metropolitan Grill, as well as the other places he went to eat on his visit. "I had every kind of steak you can possibly imagine," Daniel said with a big laugh. "I conquered every steak. There isn't a steak out there I couldn't eat."

That includes the famed 52-ounce porterhouse. "That was easy," Howell said. "Sonny ate his too, no problem."

One of the big things Daniel cited when he committed to Washington was the coaches. He holds them in high esteem. "They are very into the team, very dedicated," Howell said of the Huskies coaching staff. "I like them. They are very supportive. I'm going to have
a lot of fun being coached by them. It's going to be cool."

They like Daniel at the MIK linebacker, and that's where he'll start out this coming fall.